ANZAC MYTHOLOGY

Army Songs Are Part Of Our Digger Tradition

It's hard to believe that we have fought in thirteen wars since the 1860s: The Maori Wars of Taranaki and Waikato, Sudan, Boer, Boxer Rebellion, WW1, WW2, the 'Cold Wars' of Korea and Malaya, Vietnam, Gulf, Timor, Afghanistan and, most recently, the War Against Terrorism. Every one of these conflicts produced a body of anonymous song and, in each case, reflecting the popular music of the time.

Soldiers sang on the march to relieve boredom and to maintain uniform marching time, they sang in the barracks, in trucks as they criss-crossed the country and, of course, they sang in the trenches. Above all, they sang in those rare opportunities when they were temporarily 'free men' on leave and on the rantan.

When researching my book 'Diggers' Songs' (Australian Military History Press, 1996) I became fascinated how songs were used by the armed forces. In the Sudan and Boer wars the songs tended to reflect the nationalistic parlour songs complete with matching sentiment and doggerel. The first and second World Wars saw popular song, mostly British, being the most accepted parody vehicle whilst the Korean and Malaya wars saw the songs turn more introspective. Vietnam saw American influence grow stronger and, of course, the circulation of a whole genre of songs voicing disagreement with Australia's involvement. The most traditionally circulated song to emerge from the Gulf war was a current popular song that lent its title to a different beat as Phil Collin's 'Something In The Air Tonight' took on new meaning.

The Korean War signalled a change in how we fought with the airforce playing an increasingly important role. As wars staged primarily in the air the role of the songs were different and, as you can imagine, staring at a computer screen, surrounded by whirring noises, is not conducive to singing. In the earlier wars the infantry had to spend days, weeks, months at the front living in trenches and waiting for 'further orders'. Returned servicemen told me that the boredom was just as bad as the battle and one of the few possible forms of entertainment was singing or playing a small instrument like the mouth organ or tin whistle. What started out as a lone voice often finished as a trench full of soldiers singing the same song. Such isolation, and the need to stay awake through the long nights and days, provided an ideal platform for the 'wits' to change the words of popular songs creating new words and ditties. 'I'm Only A Bird In A Gilded Cage ' became 'I'm Only A Girl In Uniform'. 'My Little Grey Home In The West' became 'My Little Wet Home In The Trench' and the perennial bush favourite 'The Dying Stockman'; became 'The Dying Aviator'.